We asked ourselves a simple question: how do things like numerology, gematria, and arithmology – occult sciences of number which take various forms in western esotericism – come to be associated with the name of Pythagoras? Dr Kalvesmaki has looked into this stuff very deeply, and in this episode gives a beautifully-balanced account of the development of what we might call ‘esoteric number in theory and practice’ in the Græco-Roman world. The interview contains quite a bit of original, unpublished research (you heard it here first!) and comes to some conclusions which may surprise listeners.

We divide our subject-matter into three main branches for the purposes of discussion:

Gematria (using the numerical values of words to find hidden correspondences between the words, and often between the things signified by the words),

Arithmology (metaphysical speculations about number as a prime constituent of reality itself).

The typology, however, quickly succumbs to the reality, a world in which all manner of numerical (and alpha-numerical) speculation and practice was happening; in the case of the Marcosian Gnostics, for example, the lines between these three sorts of numerical speculation seem to blur or even disappear. The interview is wide-ranging and comprehensive, but also hugely informative about specifics when the evidence allows. Highly recommended.

Interview Bio:

Joel Kalvesmaki is a Byzantinist, digital humanist, and esoteric number expert. He oversees the production of Dumbarton Oaks’ flagship Byzantine publications, both print and digital. He is active in the digital humanities, bringing new technologies to bear on scholarly communication. His research and scholarship covers intellectual history in late antiquity, with a specific focus on ancient number symbolism and the writings of Evagrius Ponticus. He maintains this useful website, where you can find much more about all things numerological and arithmological.

Works Discussed in this Episode:

Primary:

Hippolytus reflects on the kinds of techniques used in doing numerological prognostications: Refutation of All Heresies 4.14.

Irenaeus of Lyon on the Beast 666 (or is that 616?): Against Heresies 5.30, with New Testament fragment attestations recorded in critical editions of the New Testament, s.v.

––– on theValentians’ system: Against Heresies 1, passim. The Nag-Hammadi Valentian text mentioned in the episode is The Ogdoad Reveals the Ennead, our best primary source for the kinds of numerical metaphysics which we associate with the Valentinian and Marcosian Gnostics.

Zhmud, L. (2016). ‘Greek Arithmology: Pythagoras or Plato?’. In: Forms and Transfers of Pythagorean Knowledge: Askesis–Religion–Science, Harrassowitz, Weisbaden. A go-to introduction to the question of how ‘Pythagorean’ this stuff is, and also includes references to Delatte’s coining of the term ‘arithmology’, which we mentioned in the episode.

Recommended Reading:

Kalvesmaki, J., 2013. The Theology of Arithmetic: Number Symbolism in Platonism and Early Christianity. Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, DC.

Sambursky, Shmuel. ‘On the Origin and Significance of the Term Gematria.’ Journal of Jewish Studies 29 (Spr. 1978): 35–38.